What Is General Dynamics Corporation's (NYSE:GD) Share Price Doing?

Let's talk about the popular General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD). The company's shares saw significant share price movement during recent months on the NYSE, rising to highs of US$244 and falling to the lows of US$210. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether General Dynamics' current trading price of US$227 reflective of the actual value of the large-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at General Dynamics’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

View our latest analysis for General Dynamics

What's The Opportunity In General Dynamics?

Good news, investors! General Dynamics is still a bargain right now according to my price multiple model, which compares the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that General Dynamics’s ratio of 18.76x is below its peer average of 26.45x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Aerospace & Defense industry. General Dynamics’s share price also seems relatively stable compared to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. If you believe the share price should eventually reach its industry peers, a low beta could suggest it is unlikely to rapidly do so anytime soon, and once it’s there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range.

What does the future of General Dynamics look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 33% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for General Dynamics. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Since GD is currently below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. With a positive outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on GD for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its prosperous future profit outlook isn’t fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it’s not too late to buy GD. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the track record of its management team, in order to make a well-informed investment decision.

With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for General Dynamics and we think they deserve your attention.

If you are no longer interested in General Dynamics, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.